Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-02-01
The Mnemonical Leciura.

Rev. George w. James, f. K. H. s., was
listened to in his lecture on mnemonics
last night at the Congregational Church by
large and highly intelligent audience.
He was introduced by Speaker w. H. Jor-
dan with few pleasant remarks. The lee
turer held that what we call knowledge is
only memory; it lies at the base of all
knowledge and constitutes it. Scientists
and philosophers have struggled with the
question, How do we remember" but
no one has solved it nor will any one do so.
He cited as instances of great memory the
cases of Lord Macaulay, Sir Walter Scott,
Joseph Parker the Congregationalist of
London, Theodore Meek, Sheridan and the
son of Robt. Houdin and others. All these,
though gifted, gained much of their pre-
eminence by training. AS the fingers may
be trained to dexterity, the muscles to
strength, the body to endurance. the mind
to intellectual thought, so may the memory
be strengthened and made dexterous and
marvelously quick and retentive. The
uses of such culture he illustrated in
score of WAYS, and its value in all vocations
in life, to the saving of worry, time and
money, and the augmenting of mental
pleasures and the happiness of men. His
lecture was replete with anecdote, wit and
humor, was conversational in character
and forcible. The speaker is easy,
graceful and of ready and correct
diction. He dwelt lengthily upon the ne
cessity of cultivating the powers of observ-
alton, quality that every practiced news
paper man fully appreciates, and the re-
marks of the speaker on that topic every
journalist will fully indorse. The Golden
Rule of Mnemoics he defined to be OBJ
serve; reflect link thought with thought;
think of the impression" Attention is
the first condition, observation the second,
and reflection the last. We link thought
with thought in three ways by incidental
association, accidental and methodical asso-
citation, and lastly by artificial association.
He gave amusing mnemonic keys, such as
three skies 10 fix certain important histori-
cal events; V b Y o r, to keep the order
of prismatic colors, and a laughable key to
the list of Presidents of the United States
He warmly defended mnemonics from the
assaults of those who say the science is
humbug, because we are to remember one
thing by some relation to another. or by
remembering another, and showed that all
the best teaching of youth is on that exact
plane He called twelve lads to the stage
six had had few moments prior instruc-
ton, but all, with few words to them in
low tone, quite readily gave the audience
the day of the week of any date in 1857.
The audience named ten subjects for
discourses; these were written upon the
black board and the boys, turning their
backs to it, with facility hot to be expected
recited the ten, stumbling a little, but pres
emily gaining rapidly and naming them
backw and out of order. Mr. James
recited the jipsling rhyme Of The Falls of
Lodore," by Southey, and gave any line at
call. and detained many of the lines back
ward. At the conclusion of the lecture
some forty ladies and gentlemen remained
and formed a class to be instructed in
memory culture, and took first lesson
under Stokes SYSTEM A notice is pub
lished calling them to meet at or P. NJ.
to- day, or at both hours, in the lecture
room of the Sixth-street N. L. Church.